Challenges
by breakingheaven
Summary: Neji and Tenten have a strictly-defined relationship; they are merely eternal rivals. Just like Gai and Kakashi are. Only Gai and Kakashi don't make out. Hopefully. Oh, God. Modern AU; Nejiten with NaruHina, SasuSaku, and KibaIno. Lemons possible later.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Wake up! Come on, come on. We're gonna be late for the first day of senior year if you don't hurry yourself out of bed!" screamed a loud, obnoxious voice mere inches from Tenten's ear. Almost mechanically, she grabbed her pillow from behind her head and buffeted whoever had so rudely woken her up. "Hey! I just did my hair! Jerk!" Ah, so it was Ino who had been so kind to wake her up. And who was now running to the bathroom to fix her long, blonde hair.

Looking back, having a sleep over with Ino, Sakura, and Hinata-at Hinata's huge house, of course–probably hadn't been the best of ideas. Especially not right before the first day of her last year of high school. Still, the opportunity had been too tempting to resist, even if she was regretting it a bit right now. Tenten rolled over and glanced at her cell phone. 7:10. Well, that left her with a solid 20 minutes to get ready, unless Sakura or Hinata tried to rush them out early. After hastily grabbing her uniform and morning equipment (toothbrush, hair ties, et cetera) out of her sleeping bag, Tenten stumbled out of Hinata's room.

Her movement was cut short by something large and hard. Someone's chest? Blinking sleepily, she looked up into the pale eyes of Neji Hyuga. Adopted as he was by Hinata's father, he lived with Hinata, her father, and her little sister Hanabi. "Oh, hey. Good morning, eternal rival," Tenten chimed brightly, if a little tiredly. His eyes narrowed slightly; he hated it when she called him that. "We're zero and zero right now, but by the end of today I'll be ahead!" she proclaimed happily.

Neji rolled his eyes at this. "Well, you won't have that chance if you're late to school," he stated simply. "So you might want to get ready." Spotting the uniform in her arms, he smirked. It was a well-known fact that Tenten hated the uniform and only wore it because it was required. Still, she wore it a few sizes too big, just because she felt it was 'too revealing' when it fit properly. Cute, he thought, smirking again.

Huffing, Tenten crossed her arms, trying in vain to hide the uniform. "Stop smirking at me, Hyuga!" she demanded, a little frown on her lips.

"No," he answered simply, the smirk still on his face. "I don't think I will. See you at school, Tenten," Neji said idly, turning to leave. Surprised, Tenten noticed that he was already completely dressed and ready to go. Of course, Mr. Perfect Hyuga would be early on the first day of school. Her traitorous eyes skimmed over the back of his broad shoulders and down his back to– "Stop staring, Tenten," he called as he continued to walk, not even bothering to look back.

She fought down a blush. "Why would I stare at you? Stop being so self-centered, Hyuga!" she shot back, glad he wasn't looking at her; she was sure by now she was blushing deep pink. "Conceited freak," she muttered rebelliously as she wandered into the bathroom. Still muttering to herself about idiotic men, Tenten took a quickly stripped out of her sleeping clothes, completely grateful she'd showered the night before. Quickly she pulled on her white thigh-high socks, and then absentmindedly slipped on her grey skirt, zipping it up in the back and then smoothing it down.

...wait, something was wrong. When she smoothed it down, the material of the skirt hardly reached to mid-thigh. Normally it went a few inches past. And since when did the waistband fit perfectly? She always wore her clothes a few sizes big, so she should've needed a belt. Frowning, she looked in the mirror. Had she gained weight since the end of junior year?

Her brows furrowed in confusion, she tugged on her plain white, short-sleeved shirt and buttoned it up, tying the small red tie around her neck, too. The shirt, though, wasn't right either. It definitely was not supposed to fit this closely. Looking at herself in the mirror, she let out a shriek. Oh, this was definitely not good. In her opinion, it was downright horrible.

"T-tenten! Is something the matter? I heard a scream!" Hinata was the first to pop into the bathroom, concern written all over her pretty face.

"Hey, is someone bleeding? What's wrong?" That was Sakura, the next one to run into the bathroom, looking for an emergency.

Tenten looked at her friends' worried faces and bit her lip. "I'm not hurt, it's just... oh my God, look at my uniform! I must have grabbed the one from freshman year on accident! It's way too small! I need to go home and change, now."

The door opened one more time, and Ino came in. "Dang, girl! Nice rack!" Ino admired, grinning. "Your legs look killer in that skirt, too. Good to know you finally decided to show what you have. So, what was the scream about?"

"Actually, the scream was about her uniform. Apparently she meant to grab one that was several sizes too big, but got her freshman year uniform instead. And it's the right size, which is clearly a big problem for Tenten here," Sakura supplied, as Ino let out a single, confused "huh."

In the meantime, Tenten had put her hand on Hinata' s shoulder. "Hinata. You have to help me out. Do you have a spare uniform shirt or skirt somewhere? Please? If there's no time for me to go home, you need to help me out."

Hinata hook her head, frowning sadly. "I really wish I could help you, but you know my skirt size is the same as yours. A-as for the shirt... well, uh, I need t-to have mine tailored because th-they, ah, they w-wouldn't fit well otherwise," she said, gesturing vaguely but frantically to her chest area.

"Well, we already knew Hinata has the biggest rack in all the land," Ino supplied dryly. "And now we know Tenten's second, and I'm a close third. And... the whole world knows Forehead here is as flat as a board," she said, seemingly unaware that Sakura was cracking her knuckles threateningly. "So, now that we're all good on cup sizes, could you please hurry up, Tenten? We've got five minutes until we need to go."

"It'll be okay, Tenten!" Hinata said encouraging. "I'm sure no one w-will even notice the difference. And tomorrow you'll be able to wear your... uh, your normal uniform." ("Like hell I'll ever let her wear that shapeless thing again," Ino muttered under her breath) "So could you please just hurry up now? I would hate t-to be tardy today. Come on, Sakura, Ino."

With that, the three other girls exited the bathroom, leaving a very frustrated Tenten in their wake. Sighing, she took one last look in the mirror and put on her normal makeup: eyeliner, mascara, and lip balm. After a few quick brush-strokes, she had her hair tidy enough to make into two loose braids. Two minutes after the other girls had left the bathroom, she grabbed her school bag from Hinata's room and ran down the stairs and into the car where the girls were waiting.

"All right, let's go! Senior year, here we come!" Sakura cheered, pulling out of the Hyuga driveway in record time and driving to school at a speed that had Hinata clutching Tenten's arm in terror. Sakura had always been the craziest driver of them all, and it definitely showed. At 7:35, they pulled into the parking lot, Hinata hyperventilating slightly, Ino giggling, and Tenten's arm red from Hinata's grabbing. "Ah, Konoha High. It is so not good to be back."

"Whatever, Forehead. We all know that you're excited to be back in classes. You're such a nerd," Ino commented snidely as she exited gracefully from Sakura's car, her heels clicking gently on the pavement.

Tenten exited less gracefully, trying her hardest to keep from flashing anyone or showing an inch too much leg. Just a moment after she'd stepped away from the car, she heard a catcall. "Damn, Tenten! I like the uniform!" called Kiba, resident loudmouth and dog lover.

Shino, who was standing near Kiba, merely raised an eyebrow. "Kiba, if you believe that Tenten appreciates the ogling, you are gravely mistak–"

"Dog boy, I swear, if you harass her one more time, I will personally have you neutered!"

"Oh, you really want to get that close to me, Ino? I'm flattered."

"Stupid mutt!" Ino replied angrily, striding in his direction. She pulled her hand back and went to slap him, but before she made contact, he grabbed both of her wrists.

Smirking lightly, he looked at her. "Now, now, Ino. Is that any way to say hello? And after I complimented your friend, too. You should be nicer to me." Without taking his eyes from hers, he brought her right hand up and kissed the palm lightly, then winked at her.

Her face bright red, Ino pulled her hands away from him. "Womanizing ass!" she shouted at him and stomped away to her friends. If Sakura, Hinata, or Tenten thought that her face was red for any reason other than anger, they knew better than to mention it, opting instead to walk into the school in near silence.

After they had walked for a minute together, heading to the office, Tenten began to feel slightly uncomfortable. Boys looked at her, their eyes lingering on her chest and legs just a moment too long, and girls frowned their silent disapproval. "Why are they staring at us?" she asked, annoyed, the moment they reached the office.

"Uh, Tenten. It's because we're hot. Even Forehead over here is at least pretty. And we're seniors, which makes us even more amazing. Get used to it," Ino suggested, taking her schedule and holding it out for the others to see.

"Don't listen to Ino. She's an idiot," Sakura said blandly, glancing at the blonde's schedule. "It's because you did something different. People freak out at change. Give them a bit of time, let habituation sink in, and people will stop staring at you. Simple as that." She looked over Tenten's shoulder at her schedule. "Huh. Yours sucks."

"Well, it looks like we all have l-lunch together, at least. Everyone but Tenten has first period English and fifth Physics... Tenten has them switched. Ah, we all have second hour Calculus together. And Tenten has sixth hour P.E., while Ino has sixth hour Cooking and Sakura and I have Economics. Ino, Sakura, and I have third hour Medical Interventions, while Tenten has Ballistics and Weaponry. Fourth hour is separate f-for all of us. Government for Sakura, Biology for Ino, Economics for Tenten, and Composition for me. Ah, Tenten, your schedule really isn't good," Hinata analyzed, frowning.

Looking at the schedules, Tenten sighed. "Yeah, well, I'll survive, I think. At least we'll have lunch and Calculus together!" At that moment, the bell rang shrilly, making them all jump a little. "Well, looks like it's time to go to first hour! I'll see you girls later!"

"Later!" they all replied in unison.

Tenten made her way over to Physics, one of the classes that she had been most apprehensive about. All of the seniors last year said it was hard and the teacher was strict, and she didn't even have any of her friends in the class. Sighing, she reached the classroom and stepped inside.

Neji brought his eyes up to meet the new arrival's, and they widened in surprise as he discovered it was Tenten, who was looking around the classroom, not paying any attention to him. Taking advantage of her inattention, Neji let his eyes glance over her figure. He was surprised and–though he would never admit it aloud–pleased to see the change in her uniform. Though he personally thought she looked cute with her uniform two or three sizes too big, the smaller, close-fitting uniform was even better. He dragged his eyes back to her face the moment before she noticed him.

"I didn't see you there, eternal rival," she said, her voice slightly mocking, as she made her way towards him. She snagged the empty seat to his left, throwing her back on the floor and plopping down unceremoniously.

A girl seated on Neji's right overheard her remark and snorted, tossing her hair. "'Eternal rival?'" she quoted, her voice incredulous. "What a ridiculous term."

"Isn't it?" Tenten piped up before Neji could reply. This disgust in her voice mirrored that in the other girl's, and she added an eyeroll for good effect. "I got dragged into this by him. Because I lost our last little challenge, I have to call him 'eternal rival' all the time. It must be some sort of weird fetish of his or something," she said breezily.

Next to her, Neji was turning red with irritation, but before he could snap out a denial, the teacher strolled through the door and cleared his throat. "Put everything away, except a pencil and paper," the man decreed. "We're taking a pretest to judge what you all know. It won't be for a grade, unless I notice you all aren't trying. So don't do too horribly. Try to remember how to use your brains."

Tenten stared at her test for a few moments before grinning and picking up her pencil. From what she could see, physics was a lot of math work, and math was her specialty. Her skill at logical reasoning and concrete figures made her naturally strong in most branches of math, and she managed to do fairly well on the test. Or, at least, she hoped so as she handed it in to the teacher, who had already started on grading them.

She was rewarded a few minutes later with a paper marked in red with a 72%–decent, for a pretest. Next to her, Neji had his paper, which showed a red 71%. "Looks like you just lost our first challenge of the year, eternal rival!" Tenten grinned, making a tally in a small notebook she'd pulled from her bag as he, reluctantly, did the same in an almost identical notebook he pulled from his pocket.

"But seriously, Hyuga. I gotta talk to you about our challenges." Neji raised one eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. "We decided on this first one last year. Whoever got the best score on the first test wins, okay, yeah, yeah. Boring. We're seniors in high school now. Our challenges need to be more... exciting. Don't you think?"

Neji looked at her for a moment, considering the idea. Her pink lips were parted slightly around the end of her pen, which she was sucking on almost thoughtfully–another one of her strange, endearing habits. Just seeing her like that... oh, he could think of other, certainly more _exciting_ challenges, many of which would not be school appropriate. In the least.

Feeling his body heat up, Neji decided perhaps it was a mixed blessing she was wearing her uniform this way. Certainly he wouldn't be able to concentrate very well in his classes for the rest of the day.

Tenten watched as a few, indecipherable emotions flickered across his oddly pale eyes and he gave no sign of answering. When she sighed impatiently, his eyes flickered straight to hers, and he gave a small, confident smirk. She could almost feel herself blushing at the look on his face, the smirk that made the already-handsome male even more attractive. "Oh, don't worry, Tenten. I'm sure we'll think of something... exciting for the our next challenges," he told her, the look in his eyes almost predatory.

The bell rung loudly, saving her from answering. Which was probably a good thing, seeing as her mind was really in no fit state to form a coherent response at that moment.

"Dang, girl! You look about as red as Hinata right now! What, are you trying to be like her? I mean, with the rack and the blush and all that?" Ino asked, loudly, when Tenten intercepted her friends on the way to Calculus.

"Ino-pig," Sakura intoned.

"Yes?" came the innocent reply, accompanied with a small grin from the blonde.

"You're a dumbass."

Ino huffed loudly and glared at Sakura, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, it's better than having a forehead that people would pay to advertise on," she said, pointedly, her crystal blue eyes gazing intently at Sakura's forehead.

Tenten and Hinata simply ignored them, used to the endless spats between the two. When they finally reached the Calculus class, Ino piped up, "So, then, it's decided."

"Huh?" Tenten and Hinata chorused, having tuned out the conversation thus far. Sakura now had an arm slung around Ino's shoulders, and the blonde was fondling her friend's pink hair. "Seriously, you two are such lesbians," Tenten laughed.

"And I thought my day wasn't going to get any better," Kiba said as he walked in, grinning lazily.

Although Ino and Sakura both huffed and separated from each other, they chose not to acknowledge the taunts any further. "As Ino was about to say, we decided we need to send the summer off in style. So, pool party? Just the four of us, at Hina's house. If she's okay with that," Sakura concluded, looking over at Hinata pleadingly. Soon Ino, too, turned her puppy-dog eyes on Hinata. The young Hyuga heiress, never one to resist her friends, crumbled.

"Fine, fine. I suppose I'll speak with my father and s-see if he will allow us to," she sighed, to the happy squeals of the other girls.

Naruto, who had walked in earlier, grinned at this. "Man, now I wanna come too. Kiba, we should talk to Neji and see if he'll let us hang out with them. When were you gonna have it?" he directed at Hinata.

"W-well," she began, a little flushed because of the sudden attention, "p-perhaps, umm, Friday would be b-best? I mean, maybe then y-you girls could stay over as well, if F-Father would allow it. I'm not s-sure if he'd be okay with m-many people."

"Aww," Naruto replied, pouting, "it'd suck if he didn't want us to come. I want to go; I think you'd look cute in a bathing suit, Hinata!"

The girls giggled as Hinata began to turn even redder. "Naruto, you're embarrassing her!" Tenten admonished through her laughter. "That's not the kind of thing you just say to a girl!" She continued, which earned her a surprised look from Naruto. Interpreting his look correctly, she added, "you seem like a pervert. And that's dangerous, considering Neji would become murderous if he detected anyone having less-than-pure intentions to Hinata." Which, she thought, was just a little bit hypocritical of Neji, considering what he's said to her in the previous class.

"Well, I was just being honest," Naruto said, now pouting even more. "Hinata _would_ look cute in a bathing suit. And if Neji gets mad at me for saying it, I'll kick his ass!" he said, a determined look now in his eyes.

Hinata, meanwhile, was pressing her pointer fingers together, a habit she hadn't done since she was a few years younger. "Ummm, I-I don't m-mind, Naruto," she stuttered out, her face now vividly red.

Before Naruto could say one more thing, though, Sasuke grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him off to a desk. "Come on, idiot, you're embarrassing the girl,"he grumbled. As the two walked off, Sakura's eyes remained glued to Sasuke, her tongue unconsciously running over her bottom lip.

"Woah, girl, no raping in class," Ino laughed, catching the expression on Sakura's face. "We all know you love him, yeah, but do you have to be so damn _obvious_ about it?" the beautiful blonde taunted.

"Shut up, stupid pig!" Sakura snapped, her bright green eyes narrowed at her on-and-off best friend. "At least I have a chance with him, unlike you. And unlike the rest of his fanclub."

Ino raised one perfectly-maintained eyebrow. "Oh, Sakura, wherever did you get the idea that I even want a chance with him? That crush was so, so middle school. Or freshman year, whatever. I've moved on to bigger and better things. Seriously," she said, a wicked grin on her face. "So you can keep emo boy over there to yourself, if you want him."

As they all watched Ino, the bell rang, and the teacher came in before they could question her further.

The rest of the class passed without much interesting happening. Tenten actually ended up paying close attention to the lesson; she'd always liked math classes, and Calculus seemed both fascinating and challenging, almost enjoyable.

The rest of her first day, to Tenten's disappointment, was similarly uninteresting. Not that all of her classes are _boring_, exactly, just nothing thrilling. Well, Ballistics and Weaponry seemed promising, but the class was so small she could tell that it wouldn't be fun, exactly, just interesting. Economics, which seemed full of the stupidest people of her age, seemed like it would be far too boring. And English, a subject she nearly always hated, wasn't any better than normal.

Her gym class, thankfully, was the last hour of the day, so she wouldn't have to go to the rest of her classes all sweaty and gross. As the teacher announced that they'd be doing diagnostic tests in the mile run, push-ups, and sit-ups, she was even more thankful. There wasn't a chance in the world that her hair would still look even okay when she was done with the activities. And she wouldn't want to change out of her gym shorts and t-shirt and back into that disgustingly tight uniform when she was sweaty, so it was all for the best.

After all of the students had gathered in the center of the gymnasium floor, the teacher called out for each student to find a partner. Before Tenten could move, she felt a presence behind her, and she whirled to face Neji Hyuga. "Oh, eternal rival! You're going to be my partner?" she quipped cheerfully.

"Anyone else would be unbearable to work with," he said tonelessly, his light eyes searching hers. "Are you going to do the tasks first, or should I?"

She gave a small shrug. "I don't care. I guess I'll go. Are we doing this for points? Like a challenge?" she asked, her eyes lighting slightly at the idea of competition.

His blank look was nearly as noncommittal as her shrug. "I suppose we can, if you don't mind losing to me," he taunted, smirking at her.

"What did I tell you about smirking at me, Hyuga?" she demanded, her eyes narrowed as she attempted to threaten him. All she succeeded in doing, he thought, was looking adorable and nearly as threatening as a small puppy. Before he could respond, though, the whistle blew and the teacher called out for all of the first group to line up for the run.

The whistle blew again, and Neji started the stopwatch he'd been given, then looked up as Tenten broke into a quick sprint to get ahead of the whole group. Once she was free to move, she eased into a quick but steady stride, her arms pumping and her hair streaming out behind her. Although some of the people in the class exclaimed as Tenten took the lead and showed no signs of slowing, even through her second lap of four, Neji wasn't surprised. He'd always seen displays of her athleticism, and he had to admit, she was good–for a girl, of course.

Tenten ran through the finish line, and he stopped the watch, the display showing a time of five minutes and 19 seconds. Glancing over her, Neji found she was panting heavily, her cheeks bright red and a slight sheen of sweat on her face. Her hair was messed up, pieces falling out of her braids. He smirked at the sight, loving how disheveled she looked. Almost automatically, his mind took a dirty turn, going to other...activities that would have her looking that way.

He pictured her, her face red and her breath coming in short pants as it was now, writing under him, her sweat covering inches of exposed skin. He wanted to lick that sweat off of her, to make her pant even harder, to make her call out his name...

The shrill blow of the whistle broke Neji out of his thoughts, thankfully before his body decided to react to them. As he passed Tenten, he smirked slightly, his expression telling her that there was no way he'd let her win this little challenge, as good as her time was and despite the fact that she'd just beaten all of the boys that had raced against her. He lined up carefully on the line and tensed his muscles, waiting for the call of the whistle.

When it came, he did not bother to sprint out to the front of the pack immediately. Unlike her, he didn't find it very necessary, but actually detrimental, to try to sprint out to the front as soon as possible. He paced himself for the first lap, accelerated in the second and for part of the third, and ended in a quick sprint that had all of the others in the group at least a half of a lap behind him. Smirking, he met Tenten's narrowed eyes. Her expression said it all; he'd won that part of the challenge.

Although she had recovered by the time the push-up test was started, her performance wasn't as good, in his opinion. She only managed to complete 36 pushups, and he was able to almost double that with his 64. By now, she was pouting, and the smirk was almost etched onto Neji's lips. Even if she managed to get ahead in sit-ups, he would have more wins than she.

When she sat down on the floor, Neji placed his hands on her feet to hold them down, then looked over her knees to glance at her face, which was set in a mask of determination. He chuckled lowly at her competitive spirit, then watched as she began the sit-ups. As she did them, he found his eyes were drawn to her thighs, where her shirts rode up ever so slightly every time she curled up. The slow uncovering of flesh was so tantalizingly gradual, just a millimeter more of skin exposed ever second.

The time they had been given for the sit-ups ended entirely too soon, in Neji's opinion, and even though she had completed 76 sit-ups, the shorts had not ridden high enough for his tastes. Hiding his annoyance under a mask of stoicism, he laid down on the floor and watched as Tenten held down his feet and hovered over him.

Her eyes slowly fell from his face to his shoulders, where the fabric of his shirt drew tight against his apparent muscles. Tenten wasn't an idiot, nor was she naive; she knew her 'eternal rival' was well-built, indeed. The muscles in his arms crossed arms hinted at the strength, and, to her fascination, his shirt began to expose his stomach, showing the lines of hard muscles there.

She would've placed bets on his having a six-pack, but before she could find out, the whistle blew, and he sat up suddenly, pulling his feet away from her and surprising her with his sudden closeness. Not one to show he unnerved her sometimes, she just grinned brightly. "Only 73. Looks like you lost to me this round!" she said excitedly. "We'll both need to remember to mark our notebooks when classes are over, unless you have yours with you."

Neji nodded serenely. "So that's a total of two for you and two for me?" he questioned, an eyebrow raised as if asking her to defy him.

"Hey, that wasn't three separate challenges!" Tenten protested as she stood. "It was just one whole challenge."

He shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. Two against two or one against one, either way, we're tied right now. Or did you not figure that, math genius?" Neji mocked her, also pushing himself to stand.

She retaliated by slapping him in the arm. "Whatever, you don't need to be a jerk about it!" she said, rolling her eyes. "Would it hurt you to be a nice person every once in a while, Hyuga?" Tenten demanded playfully.

"Being nice is completely boring," he replied, shrugging. "So, are you going to be with my cousin and the rest of your friends at their little pool party on Friday?" Neji asked suddenly, though his tone and his facial expressions hardly changed.

Caught off guard by the change in topic, Tenten blinked a few times, then nodded. "Yeah. I mean, probably. Any reason why you're asking?"

Neji smirked slightly. "Well, Naruto and Kiba have been begging for me to have them come, too. I was just seeing if there would be any reason for me to want to be there," he said cryptically. Without waiting for an answer, he turned away and headed into the boy's locker room.

Perplexed, Tenten realized that the rest of the class had filed out and was now heading to the locker rooms. Numbly, she followed the group of girls, her head still caught up in her thoughts. What exactly had he meant by that? That she would be the reason he'd want to go to a pool party? That didn't seem like Neji... but he had been acting a little differently. There was the way he acted in Physics, too. She wasn't sure why he was acting strangely, but she would figure it out eventually, she decided.

Vowing not to let it bother her much more, she gathered up her things and headed home, not bothering to shower or to change. She'd be able to do those things when she got home. As was usual for her, she walked home, and she entered her house to find it was empty, though from the looks of it, someone had been there recently.

Curiously, she made her way up the stairs and to her room, where the closet was wide open and a few hangers were on the floor. Tenten looked through the closet, trying to see if anything was missing or changed, but she didn't notice any difference until she found her sets of school uniforms. They were all the same size as the one she was wearing now. Her comfortable, loose uniforms were nowhere to be found.

She threw herself on her bed and dug her cell phone out of her bag, punching in Ino's number and making a call. This was far too serious for a text. "Hello?" came Ino's voice from the other side of the line.

"Yamanaka," Tenten growled, her voice not just hinting at but fully showing the depth of her current wrath.

"Oh, hey, Tenten! How's it going? How were the rest of the your classes today?" the blonde replied cheerily, her tone telling Tenten that she was not scared. The breathlessness of it, only slightly detectable, was the only hint that something that was wrong.

"What that hell happened to all of my uniforms?" Tenten snapped. "The ones that were bigger, that is," she added before Ino could play stupid any more.

There was a moment of silence from the other end. Ino, Tenten assumed, was trying to figure out if she could get out of this unscathed. Cutting her losses, Ino replied, "I burnt them. But, I did buy enough new uniforms to make up for the loss!"

"What in the world gives you the right to do that? I liked my old uniforms! They were comfy!" Tenten complained, her voice now almost in a yell.

"No, you liked them because you're too afraid to show a little skin. It's because you're more self-conscious than you let on, and you don't want anyone to see it, so you pretend it's just tomboyishness, but it's really not!" Ino retaliated, her voice sharp and chastising.

Tenten took a few moments to try to figure out a reply. Ino had been right, of course; it was scary how well she could figure out the nuances of each of her friends' personalities. It was almost like she could read minds. "That doesn't give you any right to do that," Tenten argued weakly, knowing her defense wasn't any good.

"Oh, don't whine about it! It's doing you good. I mean, boys were paying attention to you. Good lord, did you see the way _Neji_ was ogling you?" Ino demanded.

"N-Neji? Ogling _me_? No way. He was acting strangely, but it's not like he's attracted to me or anything. You're crazy, Ino," Tenten said flatly, trying to get her emotions under control. Why did it matter so much that Neji was looking at her? She couldn't figure it out.

"Tenten, you are absolutely helpless. You're almost as bad as Hinata. Geeze, just wear the damn uniforms I got you, and in the meantime, try to figure out your emotions."

"What the hell kind of reply is that? What kind of emotions are you talking about?"

"Uh, perhaps like who you might have a raging, sexual-tension-so-thick-you-could-cut-it-with-a-knife, obvious-to-everyone-else, mutual crush on!"

Not suspecting that, Tenten almost dropped her phone. "Ino, you're insane. Really, I'm taking you to a clinic."

"Ugh! Helpless! Like I said, girl, you are helpless!"

"Ino, you are so not helping."

"I decided I'd meddle less this year. Sakura made me promise," she said, the pout evident in her voice. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. God, how could you not know who you have a crush on? And that he has a thing for you, too! The boy was practically undressing you with his eyes! And you don't even notice! Ugh!"

"Ino!" Tenten snapped, annoyed. "Either tell me or don't!"

Her only answer was the dial tone–Ino had hung up. Groaning, Tenten cradled her head in her hands. Suddenly, she had a headache.

AN: Please take the time to review! Thanks! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, the first week of school was over. Not that it had been bad, per se, but Neji had been acting increasingly oddly. And, for some reason, Tenten had the sinking suspicion that his behavior was only going to get stranger. Sighing, she ran a hand through her loose hair before gathering it up into a ponytail that sat perkily near the top of her head.

Putting her hands on her hips, she looked at her open closet. She wanted to wear some comfy shorts and a plain t-shirt–for heaven's sake, she'd worn that stupid revealing uniform for the whole week and would like to be _comfortable_ for once–but she knew that if she dared to wear such an outfit, Ino would pull some slutty outfit out of God-knows-where and force her into it. Being friends with Ino had its downfalls. Not that being friends with Sakura and Hinata didn't, it was just she usually faced the negative sides of Ino's friendship more often than Hinata's and Sakura's combined.

Sighing, she glared at her closet, as if the perfect outfit would just fly out and slap her across the face. She ended up settling on a pair of jean shorts that were quite short and fitted and a flowy, draping coral-colored top. Comfy, and hopefully not "boring" enough to make Ino force her into something else. The shorts and shirt she threw on her bed, then rummaged through drawers to find a suitable swimsuit. Deciding on a simple white bikini, one she knew wouldn't be see-through in the water, she threw that on, then pulled her outfit on over it.

She shoved some sleeping clothes and a change of clothes into her bag, and was about to leave when her phone started to vibrate. Grumbling, Tenten drew it out of her pocket and read the message on the screen, which had come from Ino.

_Tenten. Where are you? The water is fine, and the boys are, too!~ Plus, you're missing Naruto making a fool of himself and Hinata turning so red she looks like she's about to implode. And someone looks lonely, but I'm not telling who. So get here soon! Ciao! _

"Crazy whore," Tenten mumbled to herself, quite annoyed. Ino had been in the habit of dropping far too many hints to be subtle, but not enough to satisfy Tenten's curiosity. As for Naruto making a fool of himself, and Hinata imitating an imploding tomato, though... well, in Tenten's opinion, she wasn't missing anything. Both of those things occurred at school on a regular, practically daily basis. Seeing it at Hinata's pool wouldn't be much different.

Still, she knew she would have to go soon. If Sakura started to get impatient, things tended to get bad rather quickly. Although she was usually one of the rational ones of their group–along with Tenten, of course–she had quite a bit of a temper on her. Combine that with Hinata's motherly tendencies, and there was reason enough to get herself to the party as soon as possible.

It took Tenten all of five minutes to slip on some white flip-flops, grab her sunglasses and keys, get in her car, and drive to Hinata's house. She lived quite close to the Hyugas, though not in the same neighborhood. They lived on the "rich side of the road," as Tenten always joked. She didn't even bother to go inside the house, opting instead to go around into the large backyard where the Hyugas' huge pool was. "Hey!" she called out as she slid through the gate and walked onto the deck.

"Well, it took you long enough to show up, considering you live like four minutes away," Sakura responded from her perch on the side of the pool, where she was dipping her feet into the water. Her mint green swimsuit had a ruffled bandeau top and cute bottoms with a tiny ruffled skirt. Near her, Sasuke, who lounged on a chair, raised a hand in greeting, while Lee waved enthusiastically.

"She is slow, isn't she?" A flash of blond hair caught Tenten's attention. Ino was sitting in the hot tub, her hair safely out of the water. Tenten could only see the buttery yellow string bikini top, but she undoubtedly had equally small and bright bottoms on. Shikamaru, who had appeared to be sleeping sitting in the hot tub, opened his eyes and nodded in greeting.

Chouji, who was seated in a chair near the hot tub, was the first of the boys to greet her verbally, offering a simple but cheerful, "Hey, Tenten."

"Tenten, Tenten, watch this!" Naruto shouted out from one end of the diving board. He sprinted to the other end of the diving board and leapt into the air. As he performed some interesting spins and flips, he shouted out "Uz-u-ma-ki Co–!" The end of his exclamation was curtailed by a loud smacking sound as he belly-flopped the dive. Hinata, who had been wading in the shallows–her swimsuit a suitably modest but still flattering navy suit cut in a vintage style with a sweetheart neckline and a ruched middle–let out of soft, worried cry and swam out to meet him.

Neji watched the two of them, a small scowl on his face. Tenten felt her eyes drift to him, his wet hair that trailed down his muscled back, and his entire torso, which was bare. As she had figured after seeing a small bit of his stomach in P.E., he had a six-pack. Tenten felt a blush creep into her cheeks as she looked at him. Finally, his eyes snapped to hers, and his lips twitched up in one of his infuriating smirks. Smoothly, he raised one eyebrow at her, and she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Looking over the people there, she noticed a few were missing. Shino wasn't there, but that was to be expected, frankly. He hardly ever went to social events. But where was Kiba? He surely wouldn't want to miss any event during which there would be bikini-clad females. Frowning, she looked around once more, certain he was there.

Her musings were cut short by a pair of strong arms wrapped around her midsection. Although Tenten knew she could get out of her captor's grip if she really wanted to, she didn't want to spoil anyone's fun by possibly hurting him with a martial arts move. She squirmed in his grip and tried to step on his feet to get him to let go, but those small actions wouldn't get him to relinquish her.

"Hands off the girl, dog-boy!" Ino yelled, a small frown marring her face. She was standing now, her hands on her hips. Absentmindedly, Tenten realized she'd been right–Ino's bikini bottoms were small, just providing enough coverage.

Behind her, she felt Kiba shake his head. "Not a chance, blondie," he retorted. "I'm sure Tenten wouldn't mind me taking her for a swim," Kiba said innocently.

"Fine, fine! Take me! Just let me pull my clothes off!" Tenten protested. For a moment, there was absolute silence, and Tenten wished she could take her words back. The next moment, though, her face had gone straight to bright red, she was chuckling, and everyone was laughing loudly. Everyone, that was, except for Neji. He was scowling, glaring at either her or Kiba with malicious intent. What was his problem? He could be such a stick in the mud, honestly.

Kiba let go of her and wiped the tears out of his eyes. "Well, I never thought you'd say that to me, Tenten. But by all means, take your clothes off and then I'll take you," he said, hardly getting the last bit out because he was laughing so hard. His eyebrows waggled at her ridiculously.

"Inuzuka," someone growled. Tenten wasn't surprised to find that it was Neji. She simply couldn't figure out why he was being an asshole sometimes. Probably just his manly PMS, she thought, mentally shrugging as she kicked her flip-flops to a dry area near the house, pulled her shirt off and tossed that, too, then shimmied her shorts down her legs and tossed them with the rest of her clothes.

For some strange reason, Neji's irritation–as well as his breathing, for the most part–ceased the moment Tenten pulled the shirt over her head. He had thought her uniform showed her body quite nicely, but it was nothing compared to the white bikini she now wore. His eyes traveled down the many inches of tanned, smooth skin on her torso to the waistband of her shorts, which she soon began to unbutton. As Tenten pulled her shorts down, her hips moving from side to side, Neji drank in every millimeter of freshly-exposed skin, from the beginning of her long, slender legs to the tips of her toenails, which were painted with hot pink polish.

His eyes made their leisurely way back up her body just in time to see her turn to the stupid mutt and cross her arms over her chest, a bright grin adorning her face. "All right then, Kiba," she said, waggling her eyebrows much as Kiba had earlier and pausing for effect, "take me." He swooped her up in his arms and ran to the edge of the pool and then cannon-balled in, Tenten curling her legs with his. The wave they created swamped the pool and the deck, splashing even Sasuke, Chouji, and Ino, who shrieked loudly at the coldness.

Finally the two surfaced, both of them laughing. "Well, that was fun," Tenten said, good humored. "Now, do you know what you should do next?" she asked, and she whispered conspiratorially into his ear. Kiba grinned wolfishly in return and nodded. As he swam to the ladder near the hot tub, she made her way over to Neji. Punching him in the shoulder lightly, Tenten got his attention and earned a glare from him. "Chill, eternal rival," she said, rolling her eyes. "What're you all grumpy for?"

"He was flirting with you," Neji replied simply. "He also twisted your words in a way that made you seem disreputable," he added as the two of them watched Kiba sneak up the ladder and make his way silently towards Ino.

Oh, so Neji was worried about her honor. Silly boy, Tenten thought, shaking her head and grinning wryly. "It was just a joke, Neji. I know that, and everyone else does, too. None of them think I'm a whore or ready to jump into bed with Kiba, so all is well," she said cheekily. "Besides, his flirting doesn't mean anything. _I'm_ not the one he's interested in," Tenten chuckled.

Before Neji could ask who was, a loud shriek cut their conversation short. They both looked over to the hot tub, which Ino was being dragged out of. Kiba had grabbed her from behind, his arms brushing just under her breasts, and her long ponytail getting in his face. Although she kicked backwards at him, he ignored the kicks and carried her to the diving board, stepping up with some difficulty. As she protested loudly and with such foul language Tenten thought Hinata might faint, he ran full-speed off of the diving board and into the pool. The tidal wave that followed was almost as big as the one Kiba and Tenten had created.

Tenten and Neji surfaced a second later, spluttering for air because they'd been unprepared for the water coursing over them. Tenten giggled loudly as she saw Neji's hair hanging over his face, covering it almost completely. With a long-suffering sigh, he submerged himself and came up flicking his hair backwards in one smooth motion, which only caused Tenten to laugh louder. Good lord, the boy could have a good contract with any shampoo company he wanted.

"Kiba Inuzuka, you are a complete _ass_!" Ino shrilled. She'd gotten to a part of the pool shallow enough for her to stand comfortably in, and she'd gotten most of her hair out of her face, but she still looked more than a bit angry. He just kept laughing, which certainly wasn't helping things. Glaring, she splashed him so fiercely that he began to cough and sputter. Smirking, he just splashed her back, causing her to shriek and then growl at him as she sent another splash his way.

Smiling slightly, Tenten shook her head and looked over at Neji, trying her hardest to keep her eyes on his face. If she moved them any lower than his shoulders, she'd probably start to stare and probably blush, and then he would _smirk_ at her. And damn, she hated it when he smirked at her. Usually when he did it, it was a sign that he'd won a challenge, and Tenten wasn't fond of losing anything, and especially not to Neji.

Speaking of challenges... Tenten frowned slightly, thinking. Maybe there was some sort of game or something that they could do that she could maybe beat him at. With others in the pool, any sort of race or a diving competition was out of the question. She eyed the shallows, where Ino and Kiba were laughing and splashing each other with much less malicious intent than playfulness.

"Chicken!" she exclaimed. "Neji, I challenge you to a game of chicken!" Tenten looked around the pool, trying to decide on a partner. Sasuke and Shikamaru were out of the question, if only because they would be totally unwilling. Naruto and Kiba would cause Hinata and Ino to get angry or jealous with her. While Chouji seemed solid, he was maybe a bit too tall for a good partner. Finally, her eyes lit on Lee. "Hey, Lee! Wanna help me defeat Neji in a game of chicken?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "I would be thrilled to help you bring down your eternal rival in this competition, dear Tenten!" he told her, grinning broadly. "Neji, you and your partner will not have any chance!"

Neji groaned. Now that she'd gotten Lee into it, there was no chance of backing out, but he didn't want a partner. If there was any girl to be on his shoulders, he would prefer it to be Tenten. Looking around, he frowned. Ino was definitely not an option. She would take the opportunity to flirt as outrageously as she could; it was just the way she was. Neither was Sakura. Neji had been on Sasuke's bad side once, and he didn't want to be on it again.

He sighed resignedly and turned to his cousin, who was now setting on the steps in the shallow end, watching Naruto prepare to dive–and probably fail at it–again. "Hinata, would you mind being my partner for a game of chicken?" he asked her. She trusted him at least somewhat, so she wouldn't be as insecure as normal. And, although she didn't quite look it, she was strong and at least a bit strategic. Besides, she never gave up.

Her face flushed slightly, and she nodded. "Sure, Neji. I-I will try my best!" she said softly and encouragingly. Naruto whined, complaining about how he wanted to play chicken with Hinata, but Neji disregarded the blond, as he usually did. "Shouldn't we do it over here, where it's shallower?" she asked.

He, Tenten, and Lee swam over to a part of the pool where Lee and Neji could stand comfortably, part of their chests and their shoulders out of the water. Lee bent down low, just his head above the water's edge. "Get on, Tenten! We will demolish the competition!" Giggling, Tenten obliged. Neji watched with a detached sort of jealousy as one of Tenten's long legs went over Lee's shoulder, then the other over the other shoulder. Shaking his head, he leaned down and motioned for Hinata to get on his shoulders.

"I'll referee!" called Sakura from her perch as Lee and Neji both stood up, holding their partners by the lower legs and preparing for battle. Tenten put her hands in front of her, ready to grab Hinata and push her over, and Hinata repeated the action, though a bit more nervously. "You start when I say go. Okay! Are you ready? Get set! Go!" she cried out, and both Neji and Lee surged forward.

Neji watched as Tenten's thighs tightened slightly around Lee's neck as she tried to balance better. His eyes traveled up to her torso, which was leaned over as she grappled with his cousin. The white bikini top she was wearing wasn't designed for maximum coverage in these situations. Her cleavage literally spilled out of it, making Neji go very red in the face. Distracted, he felt Hinata slip on his shoulders and almost fall before he hoisted her up. He couldn't handle any distractions, or he'd lose, so he forced himself to look at Lee's face and keep his eyes away from Tenten's legs as much as possible.

Tenten, in the meantime, wasn't having any less trouble. Hinata was stronger than she seemed, and every time Tenten got distracted by the fascinating way the muscles of Neji's shoulders shifted and contracted, the Hyuga girl would get the upper hand. Finally Tenten focused all of her attention on Hinata, watching the way the girl's hands and shoulders shifted. Tenten was able to give a good push to the other girl, which had her falling back, almost slipping off of Neji's shoulders.

Lee lunged forward, ready to grab victory. However, Tenten wasn't ready for this sudden movement. She started to fall backwards slightly, he leg kicking out reflexively. When her foot came back down, it accidentally dragged down Neji's chest, just barely brushing his skin for a second or two before Lee had the sense to step back before Hinata took advantage of Tenten's lack of balance. To Neji's mortification, he only barely held back a groan when her skin touched his, sending chills down his spine. When Hinata and Tenten finally got balanced and began grappling again, both Neji and Tenten were fire-hydrant red.

Once more, Lee and Neji moved forward, though they were both far more careful this time. Tenten pulled forward on Hinata, then immediately shoved backwards, twisting out of the Hyuga's grip at the very last moment. With a little cry of dismay, Hinata fell backwards, taking Neji with her because he didn't let go soon enough. Most of the people around and in the pool cheered, but Tenten and Lee cheered the loudest. Tenten let herself fall off of Lee's shoulders, than hugged him when she was standing again. "Thanks, Lee! That was fun!" she laughed. Neji, who had just stood up, glared at her. "Sore loser!" she teased as she hugged Hinata. "Sorry your partner sucks," she joked to the other girl.

Before Hinata could respond, Naruto picked her up as if she weighed nothing and gently settled her on his shoulders. "I wanna be your partner now, Hinata! We'll take down anyone who dares to challenge us!"

On his shoulders, Hinata turned a bright, bright red and started to press her index fingers together nervously. "Y-yes, N-Naruto!" she stammered out. Tenten giggled and was about to move away, ready for someone to have a turn when the floor of the pool suddenly moved away from her. She shrieked and grabbed for a hold, latching onto firm, strong shoulders and tightening her legs around someone's muscled neck. Looking down, she realized she was on top of Neji's shoulders.

"We'll challenge you two," Neji announced, his voice more serene than he had expected it to be. To be honest, having Tenten on his shoulders was wreaking havoc on his entire body. Although he'd thought it would be more satisfying like this, he was wrong. Every little shift of her thighs on his shoulders, the feel of her lean calves under his hands, made him anything but satisfied. He wanted more, wanted to touch more of her body, to feel her under him–he bit down on his tongue, hard, trying to change his thoughts. Why was he thinking about Tenten like that? Sure, she was attractive, but admittedly, so were Ino and Sakura, and he wasn't having these thoughts about them.

Before he could contemplate it any more, Sakura had yelled for them to start. Neji had to focus on anything else or his thoughts would immediately concentrate on the tantalizing skin of her thighs sliding against the skin onhis shoulders, her pelvis and stomach against the back of his head and neck. Tenten wasn't having a much better time concentrating. Each time his strong hands shifted slightly over her legs and his silky hair brushed against her thighs or stomach, she almost lost her focus, but she tried her best to put all her attention to grappling with Hinata.

If Neji and Tenten were having trouble, Naruto and Hinata were far worse. Hinata looked uncomfortable, trying to minimize her contact with Naruto, while it seemed all Naruto could do not to stare up at the girl on his shoulders. They were so unbalanced that when Tenten pulled on Hinata lightly, it caused the girl to topple forward, her stomach on top of Naruto's head and her breasts, though still secure in her swimsuit, right in front of his face. Hinata realized where her body was in relation to Naruto's; she squeaked and toppled off his shoulders without any further effort on Tenten's part.

Tenten was about to get off of Neji's shoulders, ready to end the game that was causing her so much confusing temptation, when Sasuke came walking towards them, a disgruntled look on his face. Sakura, who was placed on top of his shoulders carefully but firmly, was nudging him with her feet, as if he were a horse, much to Tenten and Neji's collective amusement. "Shut up and let's go," Sasuke growled, though his hands on Sakura's legs remained gentle.

That battle was much more difficult to win. Sasuke was hardly distracted, and though Sakura was blushing and clearly elated to be sitting where she was, she put up a fierce battle. The pink-haired girl tried to yank Tenten off, using her massive strength, but Tenten twisted away just in time, causing Sakura to lose her balance. Tenten seized the opportunity and shoved her friend off of Sasuke's shoulders.

Not that they were finished just then, though; one last pair had come to try their luck. While Sasuke and Sakura challenged Naruto and Hinata, Kiba and Ino approached. That duel was the easiest of all. Kiba and Ino, being the flirts that they were, were less interested in winning and more interested in copping a feel on one another at every opportunity. It was all too simple for Neji to merely support Tenten as she yanked her blonde friend off of Kiba's shoulders and sent her tumbling into the water.

That done, Tenten slid off of Neji's shoulders and fell into the pool... somewhat gracefully. Giggling, she surfaced, pushing her loose hair away from her eyes so she could see better. "We rock, Neji! We won them all!" she cheered. "But I still beat you, so that's one point for me!"

"We need to have a rematch!" Sakura declared. "I almost had you, Tenten!"

Hinata shook her head. "Umm, it's getting dark, and my father won't be happy if we s-stay in here too much longer. So we should probably be getting out now," she said apologetically.

"Aww, Hinata, your old man's a stick in the mud," Naruto complained childishly, crossing his arms and pouting.

"B-but Father allowed Neji and I to invite all of you in the first place, and this is more people than are usually allowed o-over at a time, so maybe we shouldn't disregard his feelings on this m-matter," Hinata replied cautiously. Naruto frowned and sighed, but he pulled himself out of the pool nonetheless, followed by all of the others who had been in the pool. The boys trudged after Neji, and the girls followed Hinata into the house.

Each girl made use of the large bathroom connected to Hinata's room, taking a quick shower to rinse the chlorine off and freshen up a little bit.

"So what did the boys say they were doing?" Sakura asked as she came out of the shower, rubbing her short pink hair with a towel. She was dressed cutely, in a dark green cotton babydoll cami with simple short shorts in the same color. Her question forgotten temporarily, she gaped at Hinata. "Hina. I've worn less fancy things to _dances_."

Said girl had her dark hair pulled away from her face with a light purple ribbon. The outfit in question was a soft knit nightgown, draping over her body. The white garment had thin straps and lace and light purple ribbon at the neckline as well as a thin strip of lace trimming the ruffled hem, which fell a few inches above her knee. "It's very comfortable," Hinata defended herself, blushing slightly. "And they were going to watch a movie... I forget the name of it," she said.

Ino snorted from her position on the edge of Hinata's bed. "It's probably some sort of porno flick," she said, waving her hand dismissively. The blonde was dressed in a light blue romper made of some sort of silky material and edged with lace.

"Sakura, you don't have much room to talk about fancy night clothes," Tenten said, eyeing her outfit. "I'm glad I didn't wear shorts and an old shirt, like I usually do." For that night, she'd picked a pair of cream shorts with a ribbon drawstring tied in a bow, as well as a stretchy and fitted plum tank top. "As for the porn movies, well... just because your boy toy would, doesn't mean the rest of them would. I mean, it would probably take Naruto and Lee like thirty minutes to even realize what's going on," Tenten joked.

For a moment, Sakura and Hinata just blinked at Tenten. "Ino's... boy toy?" Sakura repeated incredulously. "Please. We know Ino flirts with anything that moves, but that doesn't mean she has one boy she likes."

Tenten laughed. "Believe what you want, but I know something when I see it, and there's definitely something going on between Kiba and Ino. Or she wouldn't have been so flustered when he kissed her hand on our first day. Or so jealous when Kiba was holding on to me," she said, grinning broadly.

Eyes wide, Hinata looked over to Ino. "Is it true? You like Kiba?" she asked, her tone hushed, her expression quite surprised but not as much as Sakura's was.

Groaning, Ino hid her face in her hands. "You suck. You suck, you suck, you suck, Tenten!" she exclaimed, much to the other girls' amusements. "So how is it that you can tell who I like, but you can't even tell who likes you? Let alone who you yourself like? It's ridiculous."

Placing her hands on her hips, the brunette glared at Ino. "I wish you would either tell me or let it drop. I have no clue who this mystery man is. He can't be one of the guys we hang out with. They're all just friends. Except for Neji," Tenten said, not noticing how Hinata's, Sakura's and Ino's eyes all went wide with this. "He, of course, is my eternal rival." The other girls visibly deflated, even Hinata looking a little exasperated.

"Mkay, I'll go with a simpler question than 'who do you like?' seeing as that one's a little too hard for you," Ino replied. "Who would you like to bang so hard–" she began, but was cut off by a pillow thrown by Sakura. "What the hell, forehead?"

The two girls glared at each other for a moment. "I do not want Hinata to faint again because of your disgusting crudity. Because then I'll be the one to administer first-aid while you nearly laugh yourself sick and Tenten is stuck between worry and amusement." It was a situation that happened fairly often for the four.

"Besides, Ino, that's hardly a good question. I mean, just because I think a guy's attractive doesn't mean I like him. Really." She was not going to add that the unequivocal answer to Ino's question for her was Neji. Just because the guy was smoking hot–something all three, even Hinata, would have to agree to–did not mean that Tenten loved him or even had a crush on him. Really. He was her _eternal rival_.

Sighing, Ino looked at Tenten. "You will die an old maid with too many cats and a house that smells like fish, cupcakes, and upholstery. There's seriously no hope for you. I mean, how thick do you have to be to not know who you like? Or are you just that much in denial? Like do you want to die a virgin?" she asked critically.

Sakura sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, sensing that if Ino kept pushing, Tenten would lose her temper. "Pig. You suck. Tenten's obviously not going to die a virgin; she's too pretty." Tenten beamed at Sakura for that one. "If she decides she's going to keep being an idiot," (at this, Tenten's grin turned into a frown) "that's her prerogative. Now let's all just get along and–what the _hell_ do you want?"

None of the others had been expecting Sakura to end her sentence, but as they turned to look at the doorway, they discovered why she had. Kiba and Naruto were standing in the doorway to Hinata's room, their hands behind their backs. Behind them stood the rest of the boys, all except for Shikamaru, who was probably off sleeping somewhere.

Suddenly, six water guns were pointed at the girls.

"Oh, _hell_ no, you motherf–ahhhhh!" Tenten screamed as a jet from Neji's water gun got her straight in the chest.

"This. Is. War," Ino growled, glaring at the boys as they sprayed all of the girls, but Sakura was the first to leap up and run at them, causing the boys to run off, laughing loudly. She was about to give chase when Hinata grabbed her arm.

"No, not that way!" the Hyuga heiress said, leading her and Ino and Tenten, who had followed, down another hallway, which led them to the kitchen. Hinata opened a door and ran through quietly, the rest of the girls hot on her heels. She reached a shelving unit and ducked down, producing several huge water guns. "Here, w-we'll fill them up in the pool!" she suggested.

They went through another door that led straight onto the pool deck. Each girl quietly filled her water gun, then listened carefully. It was Ino's ears that caught a very quiet, notably masculine laugh. She signaled all of the girls to get close to her. "I heard someone laugh. I think they're on the other side of the house, waiting to ambush us. Let's get those bastards!" she cheered quietly, grinning ferally.

"I'll go first," Tenten offered, and she ran around the house as quietly as possible, Sakura following, Hinata next, and Ino bringing up the rear. When she reached the other side of the house, the boys popped out of the bushes with loud, animalistic tribal yells. For a good few minutes, the two groups sprayed each other mercilessly, until finally they were all out of ammunition–well, water. Each member of both of the groups was completely soaked.

It seemed to be Neji who noticed this first, his eyes following a single water droplet making its way down Tenten's neck and all the way down her chest, falling into the cleavage exposed my her drenched, clinging shirt. Her shorts, too, stuck to her body, outlining the curves of her lower half as water raced down her tan legs in rivulets. This new outfit, soaked in water, was both infinitely better and nowhere near as good as the swimsuit. And Neji was content to watch the water drip down her skin until he could figure out which.

Kiba, seemingly, had either noticed Neji's line of vision or had been ogling someone else. "Wet sleepwear party?" he suggested lecherously, the corners of his lips rising in a smirk. The Inuzuka just had to open his mouth, Neji thought, his teeth gritted in irritation.

For a single moment, the girls just stared at him, looking for all the world like a small herd of deer caught in the headlights. It was Hinata who reacted first, the color rising in her cheeks until she was completely red. She let out a shriek, crossed her arms across the front of her now-almost-transparent nightgown–dropping her water gun in the process–and fled into the safety of the Hyuga mansion.

Sakura didn't turn any darker than pink, but she scrambled after Hinata regardless. Tenten, now pink with embarrassment and anger, plucked up the courage to look at Neji. He should have at least had the decency to look away, but he was staring at her brazenly, that obnoxious smirk plastered across his attractive face. Without so much as a second glance, Tenten scowled and threw the empty water gun, clipping him on the side of the head, and turning on her heel, stomped off.

Despite the fact that she was in drenched silky material, Ino didn't storm away or shriek. She stood there, hands on her hips, staring Kiba down. "Stupid perverted mutt," she finally said, her voice exasperated. "Now Hinata's probably fainted and Sakura's probably panicking and Tenten's going to want to rip your balls out. All of yours."

When none of the boys replied or even moved, she threw up her arms in surrender. "Why are all of my friends such goddamn virgins?" she complained to no one in particular as she made her way back to Hinata's rooms.

Naruto was the first to burst into laughter.

AN: Wow! I'd like to take time to thank each of my reviewers. Thank you, Kyaro-chan, GoldenDragonClouds, SmiiLey-Chan, DarkAnonymous324, JaJa-Princess, Drea1284, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, Netant .45, JasmineDragon22, starisice, Love Is Only a Word, StayCalmx1314, khnoir, and Setzukk. Thank each of you for reviewing. The reviews I get really make me want to make each chapter amazing for you guys. :D


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